1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and method for filling a syringe or hypodermic needle. More specifically, the invention allows for the filling of a syringe with one hand.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many people receive liquid medicine by injection from a syringe or hypodermic needle. Use of a syringe or hypodermic needle to inject liquid medicine is well known in the medical arts. In many cases, people have to inject themselves, and some people have to inject themselves frequently, even multiple times per day. This is particularly true of diabetics, who have to give themselves frequent shots of insulin to maintain proper blood sugar levels. But it is also true of other people with other medical needs.
Use of syringes to inject medicine is well known in the art and is described here only to explain the use of the invention. Standard medicine bottles holding liquid medicine have a rubber membrane or Elastomeric seal at the top of the bottle, and medicine is removed from the bottle to inject into the patient by means of a syringe or hypodermic needle that is inserted into the medicine bottle through the Elastomeric seal. A syringe is made up of three parts: the barrel, the plunger and the needle. To remove liquid medicine with a syringe from a standard medicine bottle, the user will hold the bottle of medicine in one hand and the syringe in the other hand. The needle of the syringe will be stabbed into the top of the bottle through the Elastomeric seal, then the bottle and syringe are inverted, with the user holding the bottle in the palm of the hand while securing the syringe with the fingers of the same hand. The medicine is removed by pulling down on the plunger, away from the medicine bottle, with the other hand, which creates a vacuum inside the barrel of the syringe that pulls the medicine into the syringe.
Typically, the syringe is filled with more than the desired amount of medicine and the excess is squirted back into the medicine bottle by pushing the plunger. With the bottle inverted and the syringe held upright, any air will go to the top of the barrel of the syringe. This air is removed from the syringe by pressing the plunger. The process of filling a syringe can be easily mastered with two hands, but as can be appreciated, this process will be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to do with only one hand.
In many cases, the elderly and people with medical needs have limited mobility, limited dexterity, and limited use of hands or arms. This is particularly true of diabetics, who often have problems with manual dexterity as well as vision loss due to the effects of the disease, and occasionally lose use of an appendage due to the ravages of the disease. In some extreme cases arms and legs are amputated. But there are a variety of medical conditions, as well as birth defects and accidents that can limit the use of a hand or an arm. It is particularly difficult for a person with the use of only one hand or arm to prepare a hypodermic needle to inject themselves.
There is a need, therefore, for a device that allows a person to prepare and fill a syringe or prepare a hypodermic needle with the use of one hand.